Evolution of Chino Roces

Over the past decade, Chino Roces Avenue, a 5-kilometer stretch that passes through eight barangays in the western part of Makati City, has emerged as a real estate arena—an office and commercial strip with after-work hangout spots in between.

It is populated with business establishments, residential buildings, hotel and restaurants sans the uptight vibe of the nearby Makati central business district.

Strategic location

Firms who face the pressure of reducing costs while maintaining their competitiveness turned to strategic locations that give quick access to the prime business district of Makati and one of these is the portion of Chino Roces Avenue Extension, where old warehouses have given way to commercial and office buildings.

The length of Chino Roces Avenue crosses several key avenues and provides link to different cities in Metro Manila.

It intersects with Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue (Buendia Avenue), which leads to the country’s premiere Makati business district. It also crosses EDSA, Metro Manila’s busiest thoroughfare and Kalayaan Avenue, one of the roads connecting to Makati’s seat of government.

At the same time, one end of Chino Roces Avenue is adjacent to the capital Manila while the other end links to Taguig City, where another bustling central business district is located.

Before the historic Edsa People Power, this road was known as Pasong Tamo Street. In 1988, it was renamed Chino Roces Avenue to honor the memory of newspaper publisher and freedom fighter Don Joaquin “Chino” Roces, who died that year.

In its resolution, the then municipal government of Makati noted that Roces was a galvanizing force in the overthrowing of dictatorship and its people were beneficiaries of the restoration of democracy.

“Pasong Tamo Street is the site of various media establishments, like the Philippine Free Press, Balita and Radio and TV stations and therefore a street that is both fitting and proper to associate with the journalistic career of the late Don Chino Roces,” the resolution stated.

Locators

The main office of the Philippine Daily Inquirer is located along Chino Roces Avenue. Another business that opened shop along this road is baking institution Goldilocks, which opened its first branch in Pasong Tamo in 1966.

There are also malls along Chino Roces including WalterMart Makati, Alphaland Southgate Mall and Makati Cinema Square, a retail mall that has been around since the early ’80s.

Chino Roces Avenue extension, which has the benefits of a Makati location but has lower lease rates than in the heart of the central business district, had caught the attention of companies including multinationals Glaxo Smith Kline, Bristol Myers Squibb and DHL which have offices there.

Storage and other structures have been torn down in this part of former Pasong Tamo which is adjacent to Dasmariñas Village and originally zoned as an industrial area, making room for new office buildings such as the Ecoplaza, which is 800 meters from Edsa and the Magallanes station of the Metro Rail Transit.

Lifestyle spaces

In recent years, the 2-kmsegment of Chino Roces Extension has generated buzz with the opening of lifestyle spaces that attract the young and hip.

Karrivin Plaza’s The Alley is comprised of well-curated establishments that offers good food, art and great coffee. One of the tenants is the famed Toyo Eatery, which serves refined Filipino comfort food.

Chino Roces Avenue Extension is also home to a couple of contemporary art galleries such as the Silverlens Gallery and the Drawing Room. It is likewise the address of Whitespace, a versatile space for events, from weddings, to debuts, to corporate events, and children’s birthday parties.

The Hotel at Green Sun, which has more than 140 rooms, each with a unique digital art piece by the hotel’s resident artists, is also located along Chino Roces Avenue Extension. Considered the heart of Green Sun is Soma Bistro which serves Filipino cuisine with a modern twist.

Sources: Inquirer Archives, thealleyatkarrivin.com, greensun.com.ph, drawingroomgallery.com, silverlensgalleries.com, whitespacemanila.com, citylandcondo.com